Tate McRae is coming back to Canada on tour, but she's 'terrified' to perform in Calgary

From TikTok to Spotify, radios and Peloton bikes, Tate McRae from Calgary, Alta., has taken the world by storm and sets off on her North American tour Sept. 5.

For Canadian fans of this homegrown talent's music, McRae will be in Montreal on Sept. 10, and in Toronto Sept. 11 and Sept. 12.

But yes, the singer-songwriter is well aware of the city notably missing from her tour schedule.

"Honestly, people always get so mad because I don't perform in Calgary," McRae told Yahoo Canada. "I'm genuinely so terrified to perform in my hometown, just because I know so many people."

"But I love Montreal. I love Vancouver. I love Toronto, everywhere else I literally think are some of the best crowds."

The "she's all i wanna be" singer and So You Think You Can Dance alum really solidified her spot as a global sensation during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, but back when she was 13 years old she uploaded a YouTube video of herself singing a song she wrote titled "One Day." That video quickly went viral, and now has 39 million views.

She kept posting songs online and eventually dropped her debut EP "All The Things I Never Said" in 2020. Her album "I Used to Think I Could Fly" was released last year.

McRae's songs have inspired TikTok trends around the world, she made the Forbes "30 Under 30 List" in 2021 and last year her single "You Broke Me First" reached 1 billion plays on Spotify. And that's just a few of her accomplishments.

'I feel like I'm living sometimes two separate lives, two different identities'

While the star has made the move from Calgary to Los Angeles, she shared that she does try to spend a lot of time in Canada over the Christmas holiday and in the summer, being around "down to earth" people.

"I do believe that Canadians are just genuinely, really, really good people," McRae said. "When I come home, it's always very refreshing to be around very normal, down to earth people."

"It feels like a totally different world. Being a singer in Calgary I feel like is kind of unheard of, a little bit. The creative space I feel like is just starting to expand now. So coming home I feel like I'm getting whipped back into my high school self. So it's always a weird whirlwind feeling. I feel like I'm living sometimes two separate lives, two different identities."

McRae also shared that when she was a teen, she struggled with feeling "embarrassed" to pursue her passion.

"I think that's because everyone's going to judge someone who [does] something different," she said. "I always felt that way in high school."

"People would look at me like I had two heads when I'd come to school after posting a song that I had written online. I think it's just having the balls to put yourself out there and be courageous in a sense, because I feel like that's the only way that you're going to be able to do stuff that you're really, really passionate about."

With the 20-year-old now set to take on a 20-city tour, there's so much excitement from the Canadian superstar.

"I've been writing for the past 10, 11 months, so it feels so good to be going back on the road again," McRae said. "It just feels good to be able to see my fans again and be able to release new music at the same time. It's going to be exciting."

"It's such a high. I think the feeling of writing songs and performing on stage is a perfect example of me being an introvert and an extrovert. I feel like the moment on stage, ... all the hard work you put into writing the songs I feel like gets validated by your fans relating to them, and putting them into their own lives. I think that's just the most special thing you can see as an artist."

'I think this lifestyle can get very overwhelming at times'

As many would expect, being on the road, performing and travelling from city to city, can take a physical and mental toll on an artist. That's why you'll see McRae drinking her Essentia water at every rehearsal (she's an ambassador for the brand), staying hydrated and eating well.

"I think this lifestyle can get very overwhelming at times," McRae explained. "Usually what happens is that it all happens at once, so you film music videos and you're finalizing all your music, and you're going on tour, literally within a three-week span."

"So it's always so interesting because it always happens in the spur of the moment, which I think is a big adrenaline rush, but then also stressful. So I think it's just, by keeping sane, it's just making sure that you're internally happy so that you can be your best external self."

But just before McRae sets off on her tour, fans got a little extra treat with the star featured in the "bad idea right?" music video for her friend Olivia Rodrigo, appearing alongside Iris Apatow and Madison Hu.

"She's one of my best friends in L.A. and I love her to death, and she's obviously so talented," McRae said about Rodrigo. "But I think all the girls in that music video are just actors and in the musical space, and the creative space, so it feels like a really cool girl power moment when we all get to hang out and put our arts together."

That is also evidence of the important friendships McRae has been able to establish with other women in the music and entertainment industry, particularly following her move to the U.S.

"I think everyone in this industry is a lot more similar than we think," McRae said. "So when you get to meet really special people who are down to earth and feel like they have the right intentions, and are just good, genuine people, you want to keep them close as much as possible."

"So even though I have a small circle they're very, very important to me."

As McRae's career evolves, having now moved into her 20s, the artist says her songs and this tour will reflect her more "mature" era of music.

"That's been the hardest part because as you get older your music taste constantly changes," McRae said. "One minute I'm so heavy into rap music, and the next minute I'm into country music and pop music, and I think it changes like every single week at this point."

"I think my lyrics are always the thing that stays the most consistent within my music, and the rest is kind of just experimental."